food for a crafting soul

Hello … bonjour! Our fabulous new challenge has just started at Time Out this morning … this time we’re Inspired By Words … you are only as strong as the tables you dance on, the drinks you mix and the friends you roll with. Here’s where I went with it …My focus was on the friends you roll with part of our Inspired By Words phrase. I stamped and heat embossed those delicate, dreamy flowers (now retired Truth Is from CAS-ual Fridays) in silver onto the card base, after masking off a small section of the stems to leave space for the sentiment. The flowers were watercoloured with Zigs and I added tiny splatters in the same colours onto the background. The main sentiment is from CAS-ual Fridays (Mon Ami) and the secondary one is from Simon Says Stamp (Tiny Words). I created a frame for my blossoms by die cutting a rectangle (Hero Arts) into a card panel that matches the base … and popped the frame up on foam tape over my finished image. The shine on the embossing is rather delicious … this might give you a better idea of what it’s like in real life …

Where will our words take your creativity? You can use any or all of them to inspire your card … we’d love it if you joined us in the gallery. We’re sponsored by CAS-ual Fridays (thanks, Michele!) .. our winner will win a $25GC … and as usual, will be invited to guest design with us in a future challenge. All the details are over at Time Out, along with heaps of lovely inspiration from our fabulous DT, along with our talented Guest Designer, Claire from String Bows. Do go and have a fun visit with Claire … you’ll find so much clean and simple loveliness to explore … and you can always say hello while you’re there!

Hello … bonjour! Welcome to our first Twofer Card Challenge of 2019! This month, we have a fabulous prompt that will have ideas popping all over your creative brain … it’s …

… it might even be happening already! Here are my feathered friends …

My common image here is that happy little waving penguin, from Arctic Pals by Essentials By Ellen, used conventionally on both cards … isn’t he a cutie? Actually, all the stamps I used are from the same set, designed by Julie Ebersole … I love it! Here’s a closer look at the first …

Here, my penguin is saying a heap of hello’s to his pal just across the ice. They were stamped onto a white card panel, coloured with alcohol markers and grounded with a touch of grey pencil. The eyes on both were altered using white and black gel pens so that they look as though they’re glancing at one another … and I added Glossy Accents (carefully!) to the eyes and the beaks. The cracked ice background (that’s how I see it!) is from Winnie and Walter (Multifaceted Cutaway) … cut from grey card and adhered flat to the base. I doodled a dotted frame around the penguin panel … and popped the panel up on craft foam over the ice.

My twofer penguin …

… sending Happy Brrrthday wishes from behind his iceberg. This little scene was built up on a white card panel using stamping and masking … I added a touch of colour to the penguin’s beak … and some shading and frosting to the icebergs (you can see the shimmer better in the first photo if you go in close). The finished panel was adhered flat to a card base that had been sponged along the edges to match the icebergs.

Voilà … my two distinctly different designs … for two distinctly different occasions … using the same stamp!

How might you interpret ‘Birds’? We’d love to see you in our gallery with your two takes on it! All the details you need are over at the Twofer blog … along with plenty of fine, feathery ideas from the the DT to spark your imagination. We’re delighted to have two Guest Designers with us this month … a warm welcome to Izzy from Izzyscrap and Sonja from Old Punca. Do go and have a visit with both Izzy and Sonja … not only will you find their brilliant Twofer cards, you’ll also enjoy a whole heap of wonderful inspiration to meander through … and you can always leave them some love while you’re there!

Hello … bonjour … and Happy New Year … Bonne Année! I do hope you spent a truly joyful Christmas and celebrated the start of 2019 in a way that was just right for you. Thanks so much for being here during the last year … friends, followers and silent viewers … your enthusiasm, encouragement, warmth and support is so appreciated … thank you. I’m looking forward to another year of fun … and mutual creativity and inspiration with you all. Today, I’m here with our first challenge of the year at Time Out … this fortnight We Challenge You To Be … Loving! The first thing that popped into my mind when I thought of ‘Loving’ was hearts … here’s what I came up with …

I stamped the deliciously sweet sentiment from Reverse Confetti onto a white linen card panel and accented it with Poppy Stamps‘ embossed stitched lines and die cut hearts. The panel was adhered to the card base and I ran a black fine line pen along the edges to give it definition. The hearts were ombré coloured with alcohol markers, shimmered up with Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle and given a top coat of shine with Glossy Accents. Once dry, they were popped up on foam dots into the die cut spaces along the stitched lines … and I added an extra couple at the side of that lovely sentiment to keep it company! How about a closer look at the concentrated shimmer and shine …

Where will our challenge take you … why not let your creative imagination roam free and see where it goes … we’d love to see what you make! This time round, we’re sponsored by Birch Press Design … our winner, as voted for by the DT, will receive a $20 GC … and as usual, will be invited to guest design with us in a future challenge. All the details are over at Time Out, along with heaps of inspiration from our brilliant DT … and from our talented Guest Designer, Jane from Purplejet Loves Crafts. Why not pop over and have a wander round Jane’s blog … there’s tons of loveliness to enjoy … and you can always say hello while you’re there!

Hello … bonjour! Hope your Christmas preparations are coming along nicely … or are even complete … for those well organised souls among us! Over at Time Out we’re starting a fresh new challenge today … this fortnight we’re Inspired By Words … Celebrate…Friends…Family…Life! Here’s where I went with our words … celebrating the Greatest Gift of All …

A one layer card … with the bottom third masked off, I stamped the starry background in Delicata silver and gold, courtesy of two turns of the Concord & 9th Bitty Burst Turnabout. The Holy Family in the stable and the sentiment come from Hero Arts … and were stamped using Tsukineko Brilliance Black … the stable into the space between the ‘stars’ … and the sentiment grounding the scene. It’s deliciously shimmery IRL … though of course I couldn’t capture that with my photo!

Where will our words take your creativity? You can use any or all of them to inspire your card … we’d love if it you joined us in the gallery. We’re sponsored by STAMPlorations (thanks, Shery!) … our overall winner (as voted for by the DT) will win a $15GC … and there’ll be a random draw from all the entries for a goodie bag of stamps or dies. As usual, our winner will also be invited to design with us in a future challenge. All the details are over at Time Out, along with heaps of scrumptious inspiration from our wonderful DT … and from our uber talented Guest Designer, my lovely friend, Michele from I Card Everyone. Pretty sure you’ll know Michele and her always amazing cards … if not, you need to! Either way, do pop over for a visit … enjoy a gentle wander through all the gorgeousness on offer … and say hello while you’re there … you’ll love it!

Finally, I’d like to wish you and all those you love … a truly Blessed and Happy Christmas, filled with peace, hope and joy … and comfort for those of you who are missing someone dear at this special time of year. Thanks so much for coming by … your visits and comments are always a joy! Anita 🙂

Hello … bonjour! Our fabulous new challenge starts this morning at Time Out. This fortnight … We Challenge You To Be … Joyful! There’s aren’t too many things more joyful than Christmas … so that’s where I went with our theme …

I stamped and gold heat embossed the berry sprig and main sentiment from Uniko (Originally Organic, All Occasion Sentiments 4), plus the supplementary sentiment from Simon Says Stamp. The sprig was coloured with zigs, had the berries Wink of Stella’d and covered with Glossy Accents … and I added a scattering of red gems over the already embossed gold dots. They appear dark in the photo for some reason … IRL they’re a good match for the berries. Voilà … a one layer QACAS (quick and clean and simple in Darnell-ese), joyful, Christmas card!

Where will our challenge take your creative imagination … to a joyful occasion, as mine did … to to something bright and happy … to a joyful melody … or elsewhere? Wherever it takes you, we’d love to see what you create! This time round, we’re sponsored by Uniko (thanks, Bev!) … our winner, as voted for by the DT, will receive a in stock stamp set of their choice … and as usual, will be invited to guest design with us in a future challenge. All the details are over at Time Out, along with plenty of fabulous inspiration from our wonderful DT … and from our super talented Guest Designer, Chrissie from Simply One Of A Kind. Why not pop over and have a meander through Chrissie’s blog … she has the most delicious CAS cards to enjoy!

Hello … bonjour … and a Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving to all my American friends! We have a theme for you to play along with at Time Out this fortnight … it’s a colour one … black, white and a spot of colour … with the optional twist of making a one layer card. Here’s where I went with it …

This is an almost one layer card … stamped with an EbyE background in Memento Tuxedo Black … pounced with white to create a sense of lit snowfall … and generously spitzed with Shimmer Spray (which you can’t see!). The little fox, which is also EbyE, was stamped, trimmed out, popped up on foam tape onto the snowy background … and had his glinting eyes dotted with Enamel Accents and his nose coloured red and coated with Glossy Accents. He’s related to Rudolph don’cha know … and aspires to emulate him … though I’m not sure what the other reindeers would say if a fox were to head up the pulling team on Christmas Eve. Guess it’s only Santa knows the answer to that one. The sentiment was typed on a 1960s typewriter (as you can see it has a dual black/red ribbon!) … between the background stamping stage and the attaching of the Rudolph-emulating little fox. How will you interpret our Black, White, Plus One Colour theme … and will you use our optional twist? We’d love to see what you create in our gallery. This fortnight, we’re sponsored by Happy Little Stampers … there’ll be a random winner of a $20 gift certificate for the store, drawn from those who use the optional twist. As usual, our overall winner, as voted for by the DT, will be invited to guest design with us in a future challenge. All the details are over at the Time Out blog … along with heaps of inspiration from our brilliant DT … and from our talented Guest Designer, Joanna from Jo-Jo’s Spot. Why not pop over and have a visit with Joanna … there’s so much fantastic and varied inspiration on display … you’ll have a splendid time … and you can always say hello while you’re there!

Hello … bonjour! Welcome to our November Twofer Card Challenge! If you look closely at our challenge badge above, you’ll notice there’s a change … yep, from now on, we will be accepting the use of stencils for the prompt element on your cards. Yay for all you stencil aficionado’s out there! Our prompt this month lends itself to lots of year round designs … though as Christmas is galloping up on us at a pace, it may just have you thinking of something festive for one of your cards … it’s …

My creative mind certainly took me to Christmas for one of mine …

My common stamp here is the Wreath Turnabout from Concord & 9th … let’s take a closer look at each design.

Isn’t that such a delicious colour palette for this autumn wreath one layer card … I was inspired to use it by the lovely Bev (thanks, sweet friend!), who gathered together inks of similar colours for a play session we had at the Lake House. After turnabout-ing, I added the sentiment to the centre (from the same C9 set), covered it with Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle … and stamped the side borders (Essentials By Ellen Winterscapes). They were all done in espresso ink (to tie in with the autumn feel), though it does look decidedly black in the photo. I finished off with lots of tiny copper Nuvo Drop berries … holding my breath as I went! Here’s a closer look at them … and the shimmer …

My Twofer …

For my Christmas card, the vellum panel was offset on my turnabout ‘turntable’ so that the wreath could be stamped off the edge. I heat embossed each of the four turns in different metallic embossing powders, plus white … and then added in some extra elements on the inner part of the wreath, using smaller stamps from the same C9 set, along with one from Pink Fresh Studio‘s Bird With Flowers. The WPlus9 sentiment was heat embossed under the wreath, I added a Lawn Fawn stitched border and adhered the panel to a dark grey base. A scattering of stars was added around the sentiment and wreath … and I topped each star with a dot of white Enamel Accents to make it shine.

Where will our ‘Wreath’ prompt take you this month? We’d love to see what you make in our gallery! All the details are over at the Twofer blog … along with lots of lovely inspiration from our fabulous DT … it’s just a click away! Our talented Guest Designers this time round are Carol from Our Little Inspirations and Sybrina from Chapter Three. Do go and have a visit with them both … you’ll find their terrific Twofer cards, plus plenty of other delicious projects to enjoy and be inspired by!

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Hello ... Bonjour! You're very welcome to My Papercraft World, a small space in blogland for sharing my enthusiasm for card making. Feel free to have a browse around ... and if you find something that inspires, amuses or interests you, leave me a comment to let me know. If you let me have your blog address, I can return the compliment ... and get to be inspired, amused and interested chez toi too! Anita :)